Ball rolling game



May 21, T. MOLONEY AL BALL ROLLING GAME Filed 001;. 7, 1937 jnveniar'fi J qmamlff ozoiwy fl By I MQJMM Patented May 21, 1940 2,201,446 BALL ROLLING GAME Raymond T. Moloney and Frank G. Nicolaus, Chicago, 111.; said Nicolaus assignor to said Moloney Application October 7, 1937, Serial No. 167,730

Claims. y (01. 273-113) The invention relates to a ball rolling game of the type having a table sloped slightly from the horizontal so that balls projected onto the table may roll gravitationally thereover, and if skilfully projected, to be lodged in. pockets formed in the table.

More particularly the invention relates to the provision of a delayed action means disposed in certain, or all of the pockets, to receive the ball and then after the lapse of a desired interval of time, to cause the ball to pop up or be unseated from the pocket for further rolling movement over the table.

It is desirable that such pop up action be automatic and preferably controlled by the ball itself after it has been seated in a pocket.

The main object of the invention is to provide an improved ball rolling game.

Another object is to provide novel action for such a game to enhance player appeal and interest.

Further it is an object in a game of the pocket type forreceiving a ball, to provide means operative after a time lag to cause the ball to be unseated, or pop up out of-the pocket for further rolling action on the game table.

Still another object is to provide such a delayed pop up action, which will be automatic in operation.

Also it is an object to provide such delayed pop up action which is ball controlled, and prefer.- ably by the ball itself which is to be unseated.

Further, it is an object to provide such means which will be electromagnetically operated, foolproof, and simple in operation.

Other important objects willbecome apparent to those versed in this art as the disclosure" is more fully made.

For the purpose of carrying out the invention a ball rolling table is provided with Vertical holes or pockets into which a ball is adapted to lodge. Within certain, or all pockets, is-positioned an electromagnetic device on the core of which the ball seats itself, at the same time holding closed a spring blade switch structure for a circuit clos-.

able by the ball as it is seated. The circuit includes a thermal timer switch, which after a time lag closes to cause the electromagnetic device to be energized and eject or pop the seated ball upwardly ofi its seat and out of the pocket for further rolling movement down the table. In the accompanying sheet of drawings: Figure 1 is a general plan view of a typical ball rolling game of the ball receiving pocket Figure" 2 is an. enlarged cross sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1 to illustrate one of the delayed action ball'pop up means; and,

PATENT OFFlCE Figure 3 is a wiring diagram for the electrical circuits involved. a

The game comprises the usual rectangular" cabinet l0, carrying a ball rolling table, or board H, sloped slightly from the horizontal, with its low end adjacent the front wall i2 of the cabinet, said wall carrying a conventional ball shooting projector l3 and a coin operated release slide [4. The. projector is used to project balls one at a time, along a right hand passageway l5 onto the upper end of the table for gravitation theredown. A glass panel l6 encloses the top of the cabinet l0.

The board or table if! is preferably of Wood and is formed with suitably spaced vertical holes or pockets H. The underside of the table adjacent each hole or pocket carries a bracket NJ for supporting on a substantially vertical axis, an electromagnetic device, such as the solenoidlB. It is to be noted that each solenoid will be disposed directly under a pocket I! so that the armature or core thereof functions as a seat on which a ball indicated in dotted lines at 2| may rest. The underside of the board I! adjacent each hole ll is notched longitudinally as at 22 to providea space for locating an insulated packing 23 which carries three parallel flat spring blade switch arms providing two separate contact switches 24 and 25.

Looking now to the diagram of Figure 3 it will be seenthat a suitable source of electrical energy will be, provided as at 26, a wire 21 leading therer from and connecting to awire 28. This wire 28 is connected to one side of the contact switch 24,- as shown. A wire 29 connects to one side of a thermal timer device 30 operatively associated with a switch 3|, the wire 29 connecting with one side of the contact switch 24. A'wire 32 leads from the opposite side of the energy source 30 to the resistance element 30 and a wire 33 leads from wire 29 to the middleblade for the first set of contact switches 24, 25. A wire 34 leads from the switch 3i to the right hand solenoid l9, and a wire 35 leads from the opposite side of said solenoid to the lower blade of the contact switch 25 inthe second or right hand set shown in Figure 3. Similarly, a wire 36 and a wire 31 connect thefirst solenoid I9 with the lower blade for sired lag or time intervalto elapse before it heats and is operative to close the contact switch 3|. Thus, the switch 3| may be termed a thermal timer switch. The circuit as shown in Figure 3 will be such that a single unit 3D, 31 will serve all solenoids I9 if more than one solenoid is used in a series hookup, as shown.

In operation a ball 2| will be projected by the shooter i3 along the passageway 55 in the usual manner to cause the. ball to emerge at the upper end of the table II for gravitation theredown. When the ball is received in a pocket or hole I! equipped with a delayed action pop up device, as shown in Figure 2, the ball seats itself on the core 26 of a solenoid H9, at the same time the weight thereof holding closed the spring blade contact switches 24 and 25. This sets up a circuit 28, 21, 25, 32, 39 and 33 to cause the resistance 3i] to heat and after a definite time lag interval, the resistance thermal device acts to close the switch 3! to complete a circuit from the battery by wire 32, 36, 31 and switch 25 to energize the solenoid l9 and cause its core 29 to pop up or eject the ball 2! from the pocket .for further rolling movement on the board. The

moment the ball leaves the pocket the circuit described is opened because the spring switches 24, 25 are always open when not weighted down by a ball.

The delayed action pop up means thus creates a novel and interesting action usable in various ways in these game organizations for building up score values.

It is the intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example herein shown which do not in material respects constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter claimed. 7

What is claimed is:

1. For a ball rolling game having a substantially horizontal table over which a ball is roll- 'able, said table formed with a pocket adapted to receive a ball, an electromagnetic devicedisposed below the pocket, a circuit for said device including a switch closable by a ball in the pocket to establish the circuit and energize the device to pop up the ball lodged in said pocket, and means in the circuit and controlled by said ball for delaying the action of the device for a predetermined interval.

' 2. For a ball rolling game having a substantially horizontal table over which a ballis rollable, said table formed with a pocket adapted to receive a ball, an electromagnetic device disposed adjacent the pocket, a circuit for said device including a normally open switch positioned adjacent the pocket to receive and be closed by a ball entering the pocket, said switch included in a circuit with the electromagnetic device, and a delayed action means disposed in the circuit and controlled by said ball to be operable after the switch is closed to cause the device to operate and eject the ball from the pocket.

3. In a ball rolling game having a table sloped slightly from the horizontal and formed with a ball receiving opening, a pair of normally open spring blade contact switches horizontally carried under the table to project into said opening whereby when a ball enters the opening it closes said switches by its weight, an electromagnetic device including an armature disposed under the opening, means to carry the device from the table so that a ball lodging in the opening and closing the switches is supported above the armature, and circuits with a source of energy for the switches and device, said circuits including a timer to delay for a predetermined interval the energization of the device, the armature thereof when operative serving to pop the ball out of the opening for further rolling down the table.

4. For a ball rolling game having a substantially horizontal table over which a bali is rollable into a hole formed through said table, a switch structure carried by the table and extending into the hole to support a ball entering the hole, a solenoid carried by the table below the hole with its core movable normal to the plane of the table, a circuit for the switch structure and solenoid controlled by a ball in the pocket on said switch structure to energize the solenoid, and means controlled by the said ball itself to cause a definite time interval delay before the solenoid is operative to cause the core to pop the ball out of the hole and onto the table for further rolling movement.

5. A game having a substantially horizontal table formed with a vertical hole to receive a ball rollable on the table, a solenoid carried immediately below the hole with its core vertically movable upwardly, a switch structure extending into the hole on which the ball may lodge to close said switch structiue, a circuit for the solenoid including the switch structure and an electrical delaying means which must first function before the solenoid can operate and cause its core to pop up onto the table the ball resting on the switch structure, the action of the delaying means being controlled by said ball.

RAYMOND T. MOLONEY FRANK G. NICOLAUS. 

